There
are many reasons why cities are abandoned; some, like the ghost towns
of the American West, have become tourist destinations while others
have been condemned or simply forgotten. These 20 abandoned cities of
the world share an eerie, haunted quality that is part of what makes
them so fascinating. For more amazing abandoned places by region visit
the WebUrbanist abandonments archive.
1. The Kowloon Walled City was
located just outside Hong Kong, China during British rule. A former
watchpost to protect the area against pirates, it was occupied by Japan
during World War II and subsequently taken over by squatters after
Japan's surrender. Neither Britain nor China wanted responsibility for
it, so it became its own lawless city.
Its population flourished for
decades, with residents building labyrinthine corridors above the
street level, which was clogged with trash. The buildings grew so tall
that sunlight couldn't reach the bottom levels and the entire city had
to be illuminated with fluorescent lights. It was a place where
brothels, casinos, opium dens, cocaine parlors, food courts serving dog
meat and secret factories ran unmolested by authorities. It was finally
torn down in 1993 after a mutual decision was made by British and
Chinese authorities, who had finally grown wary of the unsanitary,
anarchic city and its out-of-control population.
2.
The small village of Oradour-sur- Glane, France, is the setting of
unspeakable horror. During World War II, 642 residents were massacred
by German soldiers as punishment for the French Resistance. The Germans
had initially intended to target nearby Oradour-sur- Vayres and
mistakenly invaded Oradour-sur- Glane on June 10th 1944. According to a
survivor's account, the men were herded into barns where they were shot
in the legs so they would die more slowly. The women and children, who
had been held in a church, all perished when their attempt to escape
was met by machine-gun fire. The village was razed by the Germans
afterward. Its ruins still stand today as a memorial to the dead and a
reminder of the events that took place.
3.
Kolmanskop is a small town located a few miles inland from the port of
Lüderitz in Namibia. Windswept sand has made its way into nearly every
building in the town, which was once a diamond mining town and
abandoned in 1956 as diamond demand declined and richer sources of
diamonds were discovered in other areas. Its only residents are now
birds, hyenas and other animals.
4.
Humberstone, Chile was a booming town from the 1920s until the early
`40s, enjoying the wealth and prosperity that came from mining and
processing nitrate, also known as saltpeter. Once synthetic saltpeter
was invented, the town began to decline and experienced a slow
outpouring of residents until it finally lay empty in 1961. Since then,
the blowing sand from surrounding deserts has made its way into the
remaining buildings, which still house machinery and furniture. The
town has been named a World Heritage Site and will likely be preserved
as a historical monument.
5.
Wittenoom, Australia was once home to 20,000 people in its mining
heyday. The asbestos mining town effectively shut down after the health
risks of asbestos became clear in the `60s, and 1,000 residents died of
asbestos-related illnesses. The remaining residents left, aside from
the 8 people who still live there today. The city is littered with the
blue fibers of asbestos, which can be seen in the bottom left photo
above.
6.
Only 30 minutes from the south side of Chicago lies Gary, Indiana,
established as a company town for U.S. Steel in 1906. When the steel
industry took a downturn in the `60s, the town became depressed and has
never recovered. Gary, which has oft received the dubious honor of the
murder capital of the U.S., is beginning to see signs of revitalization
and is still home to thousands of people, but by the looks of its
downtown area you'd never know it.
7.
Ruby, Arizona is one of the best preserved ghost towns in Arizona, but
you can only gain access to it by helping in the restoration effort. It
was founded as a mining camp, producing mostly copper, lead and zinc.
At its peak in the mid `30s, Ruby's population reached 1,200. The
population diminished after the mine was closed in the `50s. The few
buildings that remain include the jail, a schoolhouse, mine offices and
a handful of homes.
8.
The eerie city of Agdam, Azerbaijan was once a thriving city of 150,000
people. It was lost in 1993 during the Nagorno Karabakh war; though the
city was never the setting of combat, it fell victim to vandalism while
occupied by Armenians. The buildings are gutted and empty, with only
the graffiti-covered mosque remaining intact. Agdam residents have
moved to other areas of Azerbaijan, as well as into Iran.
9.
Bodie State Historic Park in California is one of the many gold-mining
ghost towns in the American West. The town of Bodie once had 10,000
residents during the gold rush; the last of its residents left during
the `50s and `60s. Only a small part of the town still stands today,
but what remains has been well preserved. Interiors remain as they were
when Bodie became a National Historic Site in 1962, with goods stacked
on the shelves. Bodie is now frequented by tourists, but its ghost town
atmosphere is intact – there are no commercial facilities in the area.
10.
Located south of Indore in the state of Madhya Pradesh, Mandu was once
the capital city of a northern Indian Muslim state and has lain
abandoned for over 400 years. The ancient city takes up a large plateau
just above the Narmada River and is home to a dazzling array of ruins,
including a royal palace and a mosque. The Nil Kanth Palace is an
important pilgrimage point for devotees of the Hindu goddess Shiva.
Today, the city's only residents are gypsy tribes who live on the
hilltop plateau.
11.
Kadykchan was one of many small Russian cities that fell into ruin when
the Soviet Union collapsed. Residents were forced to move to gain
access to services like running water, schools and medical care. The
state moved them out over a period of two weeks, and they were taken to
other towns and provided with new housing. Once a tin mining town of
12,000 people, the city is now desolate. In their hurry to leave,
residents left their belongings behind in their homes, so you can now
find aging toys, books, clothing and other objects throughout the empty
city.
The small town of Cody was established in what has been called the
`Valley of the Ghosts' in British Columbia in the 1890s during the
silver boom. Named after silver prospector Henry Cody, the town was
expected by residents at the time to surpass other nearby towns in size
and greatness. At the pinnacle of its success, though, Cody only had
150 residents, and when the town failed to attract more people it was
deserted in 1910.
13.
Balestrino, Italy is just as picturesque as many other medieval Italian
towns, with its stunning hilltop location 70 km southeast of Genoa.
Once owned by the Benedictine abbey of San Pietro dei Monti, Balestrino
began losing its population in the late 19th century as earthquakes
struck the region and damaged property. In 1953, the town was abandoned
due to `geological instability' . The part of the town that has remained
untouched since that time is currently undergoing planning for
redevelopment, so it won't remain abandoned for much longer..
14.
Once home to 2200 residents, Times Beach, Missouri stood empty and
condemned for over a decade. It's the site of one of America's worst
pollution disasters. From 1972 to 1976, city officials had waste oil
sprayed on the unpaved roads to alleviate a dust problem.
Unfortunately, that waste oil contained dioxin, a toxic carcinogen and
component of Agent Orange. The dioxin permeated the soil and flooding
further spread it through the town. After a long cleanup effort, the
town has been reborn as Route 66 State park.
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